Diana Mancuso, a Salem resident and Realtor with Keller Williams Metropolitan in Londonderry, has been selected by the New Hampshire Association of Realtors as its 2018 Realtor of the Year, an award given annually for outstanding volunteer service to the real estate industry.
The announcement was made during a Sept. 20 ceremony at the 57th annual NHAR conference, held at the Courtyard Marriott Grappone Conference Center in Concord.
Mancuso has been a Realtor since 1994 and since that time has been a tireless volunteer with her local board, the Granite State South Board of Realtors. She served as the board’s President in 2017, and prior to that chaired its Education, Communications, Professional Standards & Grievance, Membership and Safety committees.
For Mancuso, it has never been about holding the position, but instead the possibilities of what can be done with the position.
“It has always been my aim to promote a variety of programs in order to reach the widest number of our members,” she said. “Inclusion is the key to any successful growing organization.”
And then, it’s about passing it on.
“I always professed that success is not re-election, but giving others the help and encouragement to be the next to fill the role,” she said. “One of the main responsibilities of a leader is to find, groom or mentor the next generation of leaders.”
To that end, she was awarded with Granite State South Board’s Outstanding Committee Participation honor in 2008. She also earned the board’s President Award in 2003 and 2011.
At the state level, Mancuso has been a mediation volunteer since 2015, since which time she has also been a member of the Legal Committee and Mediation Subcommittee. She served on the NHAR Board of Directors in 2017 and was on its Leadership Task Force in 2013.
She has in recent years been a regular attendee at the National Association of Realtors Annual Conference and Legislative Meetings, and she has earned her LMC, RENE and RESA certifications from NAR as well.
But for Mancuso, it really boils down to being active on the home front. Her volunteer work extends well beyond her Realtor family, including the local chapter of Toastmasters International, Sonshine Soup Kitchen, REDDAY (the Keller Williams worldwide day of community service), Salem High School, American Cancer Society, Salem girls’ softball, Saint Matthews Church, BNI, and the Lancaster Elementary School and Woodbury Middle School PTAs.
But whatever the venue, her approach is clear and consistent: Practice the Golden Rule.
“When mentoring new agents through tough decisions,” she said, “I often ask, ‘If it were to appear on a billboard, how would you act? What would you say? That’s the way to handle a situation. That has always guided my decision-making.”